


Bring Me Out Of The Shadows

by NervousAliceCurious



Series: Poisonous Little World [7]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), The Mist - Stephen King
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 00:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21065975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious
Summary: They thought she was dead. They were very, very wrong.





	Bring Me Out Of The Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. We have a flashback for you, today!
> 
> Warnings: Slight gore, blood, self-harm.

“Stephanie?”

MatPat couldn’t breathe as she limped into the room.

“Is it…is it really you?”

The tears sprang to his eyes!

“I thought…I thought you were dead…!!”

“I thought I was dead, too.

A thin smile.

“But that’s not what ended up happening”.

-

The sounds of spider crunching were wearing on her.

At any moment, she fully expected to be swarmed herself-

_Don’t think like that!_

-She scolded.

_Don’t think about it-_

Her bat.

It’d fallen to the floor when Vincent had grabbed her…

_How far away is it from me?_

_…Would it even do any good?_

_…_

_I might die before I could get one good whack in…_

Thin legs creeped over her wrists and ankles.

Her chest was beginning to ache from withholding the urge to scream.

-Are they coming?

_Are they coming!?_

Hisses snaking into her ears…

Nearer…

Nearer.

Dread prickled through her veins.

_If I have to go out…_

_I would have preferred to do it alongside my family-_

_I would have preferred to die fighting instead of lying on this floor._

…

Footsteps.

_…Huh?_

*

Call me a fool.

But I snuck out the back.

It was simple enough to take down the boards nailed in place.

Even simpler to re-fortify it with vines.

Hopefully, if and when they found out…

They wouldn’t be too scared…!

Mist still as thick as ever.

I could hear cars caving in the fog.

Being tossed around-

By what, I didn’t want to know.

I didn’t want to get spotted, myself-

Trying to be as quiet as possible, I picked up the pace.

-Almost tripped into a post.

_…Well done, you._

I knew the pharmacy was practically next door.

I knew it had to be if Mat and his friends were willing to risk such a journey in the first place.

I wasted no time slipping inside.

*

No signs of spiders at the front…

That lined up with the story I’d heard.

Bracing myself, I weaved through them-

.

-That.

_That is…_

A lot.

Of babies-

Picking clean the bones of two skeletons in ragged clothing.

Cedric’s blaster, and Shane’s gun clattering under the waves of skittering creatures crawling around inside them.

. . .

I felt a shudder sneak up on me.

The Widows hissed to one another, and for a moment, I wondered if I’d-

Had I blown it?

Did they know I was there-

If they did…

No, they hadn’t.

They were too busy fixating their eight eyes upon-

Oh **heck** no.

They were _not_ eating her-!!

-But I had to be smart about this.

I had to find some way to distract them without getting _myself_ killed as well-

…

I felt for a sharp corner, and gashed open my wrist.

Green blood welled up instantly…

Not enough.

I tore farther down my sleeve, wincing at the dull pain-

It splashed to the ground.

The scent of wet grass filled my nose.

Cloying and bitter.

They smelled it.

Red orbs swinging away from Stephanie.

Toward me.

I started to back up, aiming to circle around them…

Reach her that way.

They moved faster than I had anticipated-!

Closing the gap between us within seconds.

I scrambled to get out of their path-!!

Bristling pincers at my back.

Tearing holes in my coat.

If I could’ve tied them up with my vines, I would’ve.

After seeing their eating speed firsthand, that option was out the proverbial window.

-

_Is this it?_

** _Is this it!?_ **

She couldn’t help but panic.

Ominous clackiting in her direction…

Chattering sounds creeping closer…

_Is this finally it._

…

They got farther, and farther away.

…

_How._

*

_The good news is, their attention is all on me._

_The bad news is, their attention is all on me._

_. . ._

_Alright…_

_I have about five seconds to figure out how to avoid death._

_Or die trying._

I knocked over a shelf, and then another-

Buy myself some time.

I could just see her…

Pulled her up in one smooth motion.

“-!?”

“C’mon, let’s go-“

“Who-“

“No time!

We have to get out of here now-“

“-!

My ankle-“

Okay.

…That was a problem.

“Um-“

I looked over my shoulder.

-They were on our heels.

Literally!

“I can carry you…?”

“Oh geez”.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry-“

“Huh-“

I slung an arm over her shoulder.

“Do you-?”

“Sure”.

She slung an arm over mine, and we hurried out of there together.

-

-Just missed those fangs, web shot spewing from what felt like all directions-!!

_Please don’t let us die like Shane._

_Like Cedric!!_

The doors were inches away . . . !

A hand splaying into my back, pushing me outside-

Fires blazing in my ankle-

“-!?”

I stumbled onto the side walk, peering behind me anxiously-

“Are you-!!?”

_Are you okay!!?_

He bashed out the entrance after me, clutching his bleeding wrist.

“Hey-!“

“It’s okay-“

“O-“

“Really”.

“But you-“

He looked so pale…

“I’ll live”.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s just…a cut”.

Stephanie was highly skeptical.

“A cut?”

“Yeah-we should go”.

“…”

_That doesn’t look like ‘just a cut’-_

“…Thank you”.

They flushed.

“Don’t…thank me yet…”

-

“OW! Okay-I’m good-“

They were once again within the safety of the store.

She was lying low on an unused pallet, pant leg rolled up to her knee.

Joint swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

“I’m okay”.

“…We’re gonna need some ice”.

“Yeah”.

She winced.

“We are”.

*

No evidence of spider bites upon her person.

No webbing stuck under her skin-

That I could see.

…I was worried nonetheless.

“It seems like you were left relatively untouched”.

“Thank heavens for that”.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“-I wouldn’t have liked being a cocoon”.

“Yeah…”

I’d been wondering about them for a while now.

“Do you have any idea who they were?”

“…Oh…Cedric told us-“

Her hands shook.

“He-he said-Sampson. And Penelope, Arthur’s Wife, and Madison-“

“Arthur’s Wife?”

“Yes, poor woman-“

…

Arthur had arrived at the beginning of all this in an injured state.

Could it be-?

“Anyone else?”

“Madison’s husband…and Cedric…and Shane-“

“…I see”.

I stood up.

“…I have to go check something. -And get you an ice pack too”.

“Check what, and thanks”.

“…I’m just wondering if Arthur lived through the Pharmacy’s destruction before he delivered his warning”.

“-And then _didn’t_ tell us about-!?”

“Maybe”.

A million thoughts were swirling through my head.

“Or maybe not”.

Either way, I had to find out.

-

What were they doing?

…It’d been a good thirty minutes now.

_I guess Arthur’s really a pro at Hide-and-Seek._

...

Or something’d gone wrong.

Her intuition was going off.

**Loud.**

…

Hobbling upright, grimacing at the slicing ache-

_…I need to know what’s going on out there._

-

“…I saw the hand print, and I knew _immediately_ that you guys had made a terrible mistake!”

…

No one spoke.

Justine slowly turned to the door.

“-Uh”.

Tyler blinked.

“-Well that’s…not great-“

Gabbie wasn’t about to believe it so easily.

“But where’s your proof-“

“Right here!”

She slid forward her crying foot-

“Ooh, girl, that is NOT good!” Nikita yelped.

“You need some ice!” Manny told her helpfully.

“From where!?” Lauren fretted.

“I’ll go get some!” Ro raced off-

MatPat practically knocked Stephanie over with the force of his hug!!

“-I was so scared you were gone, we should’ve gone back for you, we should’ve-“

“It’s okay…it’s okay…”

_Except they’re **dead.**_

_They’re dead even though they saved my life._

-

She wanted to scream.

But everyone else was crowding around her now, so happy that she was alive…

…

_I'm sorry I couldn't save **you.**_

**Author's Note:**

> Please, enjoy.


End file.
